Socio-cultural factors and youth entrepreneurship in rural regions

Abstract

Purpose – This paper aims to demonstrate the impact of two importantsocio-cultural factors on the level of the entrepreneurial activity ofyoung individuals in rural regions.

Design/methodology/approach – Our empirical study is based ona sample collected from an adult population survey, and analyzedusing a logit model that controls for territorial and aging sources ofheterogeneity. Our theoretical framework is anchored on a contingencyperspective that emphasizes the unique influences of the contextualenvironment in driving entrepreneurial behavior.

Findings – The main findings of our study is that in Spain thelikelihood of being entrepreneurially active is no different for youngand old individuals, and between rural and urban regions. Surprisingly,unlike shown in most studies, entrepreneurial role models do nothave any effect on the entrepreneurship by young individuals in ruralregions of Spain, while the negative impact of fear of failure in theentrepreneurship on young individuals in rural regions is much highercompared to the rest of the population.

Originality/value – Our findings reveal that the context (regional)has a more significant impact on entrepreneurship for some segments(younger individuals) of the population than for others.

The RBGN has the financial support from Fundação Escola de Comércio Álvares Penteado - FECAP and development agencies Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – CAPES.

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